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WISC-TV
'''WISC-TV, ch. 3 (analog)/50 (DT), is the CBS affiliate for Madison, Wisconsin. The station is the flagship of Madison-based Morgan Murphy Media & has been affiliated with CBS since it's launch on June 24, 1956. It's also the only full-power VHF outlet in the Madison media market, with it's transmitter located on Madison's West side. The station also operates My Madison TV, which is carried on local cable, on DirectTV in the Madison market & on WISC's DT subchannel 3.2 (DT 3.1 simulcasts WISC's lineup). History WISC-TV first took to the airwaves on June 24 1956, taking over Madison's CBS affiliation from WKOW-TV (which retained ABC affiliation). Having the Madison market's only VHF transmission tower gave WISC-TV the farthest signal reach over the market's UHF stations in an era before cable simulcasts. From its early days in broadcasting through the 1970s, the station ID was branded as "WISC-TV, Channel 3 - Madison. Wisconsin's Leadership Station." Jerry Deane was a very popular news presenter. William "Bill" Dyke was an on-air talent in the early 1960s before he eventually became mayor of Madison. From 1995-1999, WISC-TV carried select UPN programming during overnight hours, before the launch of a separate UPN station in the market, WHPN. UPN returned in 2002 on WISC's cable/DT subchannel, "UPN 14"; that channel now carries My Network TV. WISC-TV commerated it's 50th anniversary in June 2006, which merited a congratulatory mention by David Letterman on his Late Show broadcast of June 22, 2006 (their first program, he quipped, was "Good Morning, Cheddar"). Programming The station airs a mix of local programming, newscasts & syndicated shows (among them Dr. Phil, The Oprah Winfrey Show & Entertainment Tonight). WISC usually airs the full CBS program schedule, though pre-emptions to overnight hours have occurred in the past due to local specials & Wisconsin Badgers sports broadcasts (WISC was home to Badger broadcasts on ESPN + before the syndicator's relationship with the Big Ten Conference ended in 2007). In addition to it's normal morning, midday, 6 & 10 PM newscasts, WISC airs "News 3 Live @ 5", which is largely devoted to non-headline news & features that focus on the community & the people of Madison, Dane County & southern Wisconsin. High Definition news On October 26 2008, WISC-TV began producing all of it's newscasts in total HD, becoming the first commercial TV station in Wisconsin to do so. The station had produced occasional news features in HD since the beginning of the year. My Madison TV Main article: My Madison TV WISC-TV's DT subchannel, 3.2, is known as "My Madison TV" & carries the My Network TV schedule, syndicated programs & off-network reruns, as well as "News 3 @ 9 on My Madison TV", a prime-time newscast produced by WISC-TV. My Madison TV also serves as a backup channel for programming that is pre-empted on WISC. The channel is carried on Charter Communications cable ch. 14, where it originally launched in 1998 as a WB Network affiliate. Current On-Air Personalities *Susan Siman (Weekdays @ 5 & 6) *Eric Franke (Weekdays @ 6 & 10) *Mark Koehn (Weekdays @ Noon & 5) *Teri Barr (Weekdays @ 9 on My Madison TV & @ 10) *Rob Starbuck (Weekdays in the Morning) *Charlotte Deleste (Weekdays in the Morning) *Andy Choi (Weekends @ 5:30, 6 & 10) *Gary Cannalte (Chief Meteorologist) *Jay Wilson (Sports Director) *Jessica Arp (Reporter) *Linda Eggert (Reporter) *Marc Lovicott (Reporter) *Maria Guerrero (Reporter) *Angela Bettis (Reporter) *Naomi McDonald (Reporter/Producer) *Jeff Smith (Weather) *Haddie McLean (Weather) *Karin Swanson (Weather) *Josh Williamson (Weekend Sports) *Steve Van Dinter (Reporter) Gadget Guy *Neil Heinen (WISC/''Madison Magazine'' Editorial Director & host of "For the Record") *Shawn Prebil (WTDY traffic reporter) Former On-Air Personalities *Laura Behnke (Sports); now @ KNTV in San Jose, CA *Charles Buhrow (Sports); now Sales Director, Digital Golf Network *Joel DeSpain (Reporter); now Public Information Officer, Madison Police Dept. *Jessie Garcia (Sports); now @ WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee, WI *Marney Gellner (Sports); now @ FSN North *Angela Jacobs (Sports); now @ WTSP-TV in Tampa, FL *George Johnson (Sports Director); left station in September 2008 after altercation with police *John Karcher (Anchor) *Martin Kilcoyne (Sports); now @ KTVI-TV in St. Louis, MO *Matt Lepay (Sports); now play-by-play radio voice of the University of Wisconsin's Football & Basketball *Curt Menefee (Sports); now @ FOX Sports as the FOX NFL Sunday host *Mike Pitas (Sports); now in advertising sales @ Manufacturing.net *Alanna Rizzo (Sports); now @ FSN Rocky Mountain *Dawn Stevens (Anchor/Reporter); now @ KMSP-TV in Minneapolis, MN *Chris Swanson (Sports); now @ NWCN in Seattle, WA *Pam Tauscher (Anchor) *Katy Sai (Anchor) *Toya Washington (Anchor/Reporter); now @ WISN-TV in Milwaukee, WI *Carleen Wild (Anchor); now @ WMTV News/Station Presentation Newscast Titles *''WISC-TV News'' (1956-1960) *''Channel 3 News'' (1960-1966) *''Newsroom 3'' (1966-1971) *''TV-3 Eyewitness News'' (September 13, 1971-1982) *''Channel 3 Action News'' (1982-1989) *''News 3'' (1989-present) Station Slogans *''TV-3, Your Eyewitness News Station'' (1971-1982) *''Channel 3, Where the Action Is'' (1982-1985) *''Madison's #1 News Team'' (1985-1989) *''Your 24 Hour News Source'' (1989-1995) *''Where the News Comes First'' (1995-2004) *''Informed, Involved & In Touch'' (2004-present) External links *WISC-TV, News 3's Website *Direct link to WISC-TV's 50th anniversary webpage